Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XV.djvu/626

 598 TCHERNTGOV TEA which stands about 10 m. from the S. "W. shore, are sometimes overflowed. Lake Tchad has two large tributaries, the Komadugu on the west and the Shary on the south, but no known outlet. Dr. Nachtigal says that at some for- mer period the surplus waters were discharged through the Bahr el-Ghazal into an extensive lake 300 m. N. E. The course of this ancient river can still be traced by a fringe of trees, and according to the Arabs water flowed through it for 100 in. during the inundation of 1870. The water of the lake is fresh and sweet; the shallower parts are covered with aquatic plants, and hippopotami, crocodiles, turtles, fish, and water fowl abound. Large herds of antelope feed on its shores, and there are many elephants in the forests on the north. Villages abound on its banks, and the islands in it are densely populated, the central ones by the Buddumas, the eastern by the Kuti, and the northeastern by the Kanembi. The Buddumas are a pagan tribe, distinct from the surrounding Mohammedans. They are well made, active, regular in features, and dark brown or black in complexion. Both sexes are clothed in cotton, and they wear sandals and many ornaments. Cattle and goats are raised by them, and they cultivate maize and cotton. Lake Tchad was known to Leo Afri- canus in the 16th century, but the first Euro- peans who visited it in later times were Den- ham and Clapperton in 1823. Barth, Over- weg, and Vogel explored its vicinity in 1851- '5, Rohlfs in 1866, and Nachtigal in 1870. TCHERMGOV. I. A S. W. government of Russia, bordering on Mohilev, Smolensk, Orel, Kursk, Poltava, Kiev, and Minsk ; area, 20,231 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 1,659,600. The surface, with the exception of the western portion, is flat, and the soil is particularly fertile. It is well watered, the most important rivers being the Dnieper, which flows on the W. boundary, and its affluent the Desna, which intersects the government. Horses, horned cattle, and sheep are abundant, and the breeds of the first two are particularly good. The manufactures are chiefly articles for domestic use. Much honey, wax, and brandy are produced. II. A city, capital of the government, on the Desna, 385 m. S. W. of Moscow ; pop. in 1867, 17,096. It is an old town, and has a castle, a beautiful cathedral, several schools, and a large trade. TCHIHATCHEFF, Pctr, a Russian traveller, born at Gatchina in 1812. After he had served in the department of foreign affairs and as attach^ to the embassy in Constantinople, the government commissioned him to explore the Altai mountains. lie has published, besides other works, Voyage scientfftque dans V Altai et dans Us contrees adjacentes (Paris, 1846); ISAsie Mineure : description physique, statis- tique et archeologique de cette contree (8 vols., Paris, 1853-'69) ; and Le Bosphore et Constan- tinople, of geological interest (1864). TCIHKTCHIS. I. A native tribe of Siberia, inhabiting the E. extremity of the continent of Asia from the 160th meridian to Behring strait. They are apparently akin to the Koriaks, who occupy nearly the same territory, and whose habits and customs are similar. A part of them are settled along the shore, where they support themselves chiefly by killing whales, seals, and walruses; but most of them are nomads, who wander almost constantly with great herds of reindeer, seldom camping more than a week in one place. They are bold, self- reliant, and wholly independent of civilization and government. Their bands are held together only by mutual consent, and have no govern- ing head. In general appearance they are tall, athletic, and vigorous, closely resembling the North American Indians. According to some authorities the Tchuktchis and Koriaks do not number more than 6,000 or 8,000, but the Rus- sian estimates are larger. II. A tribe of the Koniaga family in Alaska, otherwise called Aglegmutes, who occupy the coast of Bristol bay from the river Nushagak to lat. 56 N. They live in houses made of slabs, built over an excavation, with a low doorway. They are peaceable, given to labor and trade, and are ingenious in carving and other work, but are sunk in vices and extremely filthy. TEA (Chinese, tcha, cha, or tha), a substance used in making a beverage by infusion, con- sisting of the dried leaves of one or more spe- cies of plants of the old genus thea. Bentham and Hooker, who have thoroughly revised the genera, say {Genera Plantarum, vol. i., p. 187) that they can find no good characters by which to separate thea as a genus distinct from co- Plant (Camellia thea). mellia ; as botanists were mostly agreed that there was but one species of thea, the botanical name of the tea plant under this arrangement will be camellia thea. The genus is well known from the very general cultivation of 0. Japoni- ca and other species, especially their double forms, in greenhouses in the northern states, and in the open air in the southern. The tea species differs from any of these in having longer^ narrower, thinner, more serrate, and less shiny leaves ; its flowers are axillary and nodding, and, though only about an inch across, closely resemble those of a single camellia.